The environmental occurrence and mutagenic activity of quinoline and benzoquinolines are well-documented. In this study, the relative carcinogenic activities of quinoline, benzo[f]quinoline, benzo[h]quinoline, and phenanthridine were evaluated in newborn mice. Mice were injected intraperitoneally on the first, eighth, and fifteenth day of life with 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 mumol of each of these aza-arenes. Quinoline induced a 71% incidence (P less than 0.005) of hepatic tumors among the male mice sacrificed at 52 weeks of age. None of the female mice treated with these aza-arenes developed hepatomas. Among the female mice treated with quinoline there was a significant development of leukemia or lymphoma (P less than 0.05) which was not evident among the female mice in any of the other experimental groups. Benzo[h]quinoline and phenanthridine were not carcinogenic under these assay conditions. Benzo[f]quinoline did induce an increase in the incidence of hepatomas among male mice (19% as compared to 5.9% among controls). This increase, however, was not statistically significant. These data indicate that quinoline has greater carcinogenic potential than any of these isomeric benzoquinolines in newborn mice.